Thinking

The center piece of this picture is a “No thoroughfare”sign on the back of a Yield sign that says “THINK-ING”. The dictionary definition of thinking is the action of using one's mind to produce thoughts. Thinking is a central element when I create my art. Sometimes I sit in front of my work for hours thinking about the next layer or which color or paper to use. So all the elements in the picture are connected to a past experience. The word “Kuchen (cake)” for example | center |. The best piece of cake I ever had was in Poland. We were visiting the families of former Polish immigrants to Germany who helped my parents to renovate our building. During the construction they became close friends. The Polish countryside was wonderful. We collected mushrooms | girl collecting mushrooms, bottom center |for dinner. In the morning, I had to go to a farm to get some eggs. When I got there the farmer was in the process of slaughtering a pig. While I was waiting for the eggs I watched the pig bleeding to death | center right, men looking at the pig |. I was so disgusted by having witnessed the slaughtering that I couldn’t eat pork for years. The first pork chop I had after a long time was during an event at the Kulturbrauerei (a former brewery now a popular Berlin location for culturalevents) | top right |. I attended many parties and events at the Kulturbrauerei. The whole atmosphere of the Kulturbrauerei with its vintage industrial flair led me to think about the Haubentaucher | pictured below Kulturbrauerei |, yet another location that is all about celebration today.The Haubentaucher is an oasis with Mediterranean charm in the middle of the Berlin urban jungle, nestled between old industrial plants. It has a large outdoor pool with sunbathing areas, and parties can be celebrated while slurping cocktails. The Medi-terranean charm of the place led me to think about Italy...and pizza. The best pizza I had in Berlin was at the 12 Apostel – Am Kupfergraben close to where German chancellor Angela Merkel lives. Kupfergraben is a section of the Spree along the northern edge of Museum Island| top, left of the picture |. Masses of tourists visit Berlin’s Museum Island. The restaurants around it and at other places like Hackescher Markt and Alexanderplatz are tourist areas that are often crowded with people selling roses.I always found it embarrassing when I went out in the evening and my friend was more or less pres-sured into buying a rose – for me. The rose sellers always put a lot of pressure on the men in the group | girl with the devil horns and the flowers, bottom left |. Now my attention went back to the sign “THINK-ING”, and the sticker “Traffic kills” caught my attention. All of the sudden I was thrown back into my childhood. We had a chewing gum machine | red machine, bottom center | on the other side of our street.Since I had to cross the street to get to the machine, my mom always told me to watch out for cars, because “Traffic kills”. I could go on and on...but to quote the monkeys: “WHATEVER”....